Queries of a topic-based-source-specific search system

ABSTRACT

Approaches for facilitating queries of a topic-based-source-specific search system are disclosed. In certain implementations, an input relating to a query may be received. Suggested ones of predefined sources and suggested ones of information items of the predefined sources may be determined based on the input. A set of suggestions including a group of suggestions relating to the suggested sources and a group of suggestions relating to the suggested information items may be provided for presentation on a user interface. In some implementations, metadata that indicates first, second, or other attributes relating to the predefined sources or the information items may be stored in association with the predefined sources or the information items. A second input relating to the query may be received responsive to providing the set of suggestions. A presentation of a comparison between the first attribute and the second attribute may be provided based on the second input.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/911,565 now U.S. Pat. No. 9,405,822, filed Jun. 6, 2013, entitledQUERIES OF A TOPIC-BASED-SOURCE-SPECIFIC SEARCH SYSTEM, the entirety ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system, including, among otheraspects, simultaneous presentation of suggestions (e.g., suggestedsources, suggested information items, suggested keywords, or othersuggestions), comparisons relating to queries, multiple result setsbased on different filters, multiple options to modify an associatedsource set, or other features based on queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Numerous disparate sources of government information exist. Thesesources include government websites, intergovernmental agency websites,news websites, and other sources. One problem with existing systems andmethods for accessing this information is the need to find andrepeatedly visit numerous sites to stay abreast of the desiredinformation. These and other drawbacks exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention addressing these and other drawbacks relates to methods,apparatuses, and/or systems for facilitating queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system. In exemplary implementations,a plurality of predefined sources of government information may bepre-selected for the topic-based-source-specific search system. Thepredefined sources and information items of the predefined sources maybe processed. Metadata indicating various attributes of the predefinedsources or the information items may be stored in association with thepredefined sources or the information items. The search system, userinterfaces of the search system, or other components of the searchsystem may be configured to provide: (i) discovery and following ofsources of the predefined sources; (ii) viewing of information itemsfrom the followed sources, query results, or other information in anorganized manner; (iii) comparisons of attributes associated with thepredefined sources or the information items; (iv) or other benefits.

A system for facilitating queries of a topic-based-source-specificsearch system may comprise one or more servers (or other components)that include one or more processors configured to execute one or morecomputer program modules. The computer program modules may include aquery input module, a suggestion module, a user interface module, aninformation retrieval module, an indexing module, a user profile module,a comparison module, or other modules.

In certain implementations, the topic-based-search-specific searchsystem may be configured to collect information from predefined sourcesrelating to a content topic prior to queries of thetopic-based-search-specific search system. In some implementations, thecontent topic may correspond to government information or other type ofinformation.

The query input module may be configured to receive an input relating toa query. In one scenario, the received input may correspond to a portionof a query that a user has not yet submitted or otherwise completed. Thereceived input may, for instance, represent at least a portion of aquery that the user may submit. In another scenario, the received inputmay correspond to a complete query.

The suggestion module may be configured to determine suggested ones ofthe predefined sources, suggested ones of information items of thepredefined sources, one or more suggested keywords, or other suggestionsbased on the received input. In certain implementations, the informationitems of the predefined sources may relate to press releases, speeches,opinions, statements, legislations, or other government information.Formats of the information items may correspond to one or more oftextual formats, image formats, audio formats, video formats, or otherformats. In some implementations, the suggested information items mayrelate to bills, laws, or other government information.

The user interface module may be configured to provide a set ofsuggestions including a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedsources, a group of suggestions relating to the suggested informationitems, a group of suggestions relating to the suggested keywords, or agroup of other suggestions for presentation on a user interface.

In various implementations, the suggestion module may be configured todetermine the suggested sources based on a determination that one ormore identifiers of the suggested sources correspond to the receivedinput.

In certain implementations, the user interface module may be configuredto provide a query input component on a display of the user interface.The query input component may, for example, be configured to receiveinput. In some implementations, the query input module may be configuredto receive a second input relating to the query responsive to providingthe set of suggestions (that includes a group of suggestions relating tothe suggested sources, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedinformation items, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedkeywords, or a group of other suggestions). The information retrievalmodule may be configured to determine a subset of the information itemsthat relates to the received second input. The information retrievalmodule may be configured to determine one or more sources associatedwith the determined subset of the information items. The user interfacemodule may provide one or more representations of the determined subsetof the information items and one or more representations of thedetermined sources on the display of the user interface simultaneouslywith the query input component.

In various implementations, the user profile module may be configured todetermine a source set associated with a user. The source set may, forexample, include at least one source associated with the user. Thesuggestion module may be configured to determine second suggested onesof the predefined sources that are not included in the source set. Theuser interface module may be configured to provide a group ofsuggestions relating to the suggested sources on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component, therepresentations of the determined subset of the information items, andthe representations of the determined sources (e.g., the sources of thepredefined sources that relate to the determined subset of theinformation items) based on a determination that the second suggestedsources are not included in the source set.

In certain implementations, the information retrieval module may beconfigured to determine one or more first information items of thedetermined subset of the information items and one or more secondinformation items of the determined subset of the information itemsbased on one or more filters. In various implementations, theinformation retrieval module may be configured to determine the firstinformation items of the determined subset based on one or more firstfilters. The information retrieval module may be configured to determinethe second information items of the determined subset based on one ormore second filters. The user interface module may be configured toprovide one or more representations of the first information items in afirst area on the display of the user interface and one or morerepresentations of the second information items in a second area on thedisplay of the user interface.

In some implementations, the first filters may relate to one or more offirst political entities, first government entities, or firstlegislations. The second filters may relate to one or more of secondpolitical entities, second government entities, or second legislations.By way of example, political or government entities may includepolitical parties (e.g., Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc.),political or government organizations, political or government figures,or other political or government entities. Legislations may includeamendments, bills, laws, resolutions, or other legislation.

In certain implementations, the user profile module may be configured todetermine a source set associated with a user. The source set may, forinstance, include at least one source associated with the user. The userinterface module may be configured to provide one or morerepresentations to modify the source set on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component, therepresentations of the determined subset (e.g., the subset of theinformation items that relate to the received input), and therepresentations of the determined sources (e.g., the sources of thepredefined sources that relate to the determined subset of theinformation items).

In some implementations, the user profile module may be configured todetermine that the source set includes a first source of the determinedsources (e.g., the sources of the predefined sources that relate to thedetermined subset of the information items). The user profile module maybe configured to determine that the source set do not include a secondsource of the determined sources. In one or more implementations, therepresentations of the modify options may include a representation of anoption to remove the first source from the source set based on thedetermination that the source set includes the first source and arepresentation of an option to add the second source to the source setbased on the determination that the source set does not include thesecond source.

In various implementations, the user profile module may be configured toassociate one or more first item types with a primary item type setbased on one or more inputs corresponding to selection of the first itemtypes. The user interface module may be configured to provide one ormore representations of first information items of the determined subset(e.g., the subset of the information items that relate to the receivedinput) in a primary area on the display of the user interface based on adetermination that the first information items are associated with thefirst item types. The user interface module may be configured to provideone or more representations of second information items of thedetermined subset in a secondary area on the display of the userinterface based on a determination that the second information items areassociated with one or more second item types. The primary area and thesecondary area may, for example, be provided on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component and thedetermined sources (e.g., the sources of the predefined sources thatrelate to the determined subset of the information items).

In some implementations, the user interface module may be configured toprovide one or more representations of options to select or unselect aplurality of item types to modify the primary item type set on thedisplay of the user interface simultaneously with the query inputcomponent, the representations of the determined sources, the primaryarea, and the secondary area. In one or more implementations, the userinterface module may be configured to provide the representations of thefirst information items in the primary area and the representations ofthe second information items in the secondary area based on one or moreinputs corresponding to selecting the first item types of the pluralityof item types or unselecting the second item types of the plurality ofitem types.

In certain implementations, the user interface module may be configuredto remove the secondary area from view on the display of the userinterface based on a determination that each of the plurality of itemtypes is selected.

In some implementations, the user interface module may be configured toprovide one of the information items of the determined subset on asecond display of the user interface. The suggestion module may beconfigured to determine suggested keywords that relate to a second queryand the presented information item. The user interface module may beconfigured to provide a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedkeywords on the second display of the user interface simultaneously withthe presented information item.

In certain implementations, the indexing module may be configured tostore metadata in association with the predefined sources or theinformation items of the predefined sources. The metadata may indicate afirst attribute relating to first ones of the predefined sources or theinformation items, a second attribute relating to second ones of thepredefined sources or the information items, or other attribute. In someimplementations, the first attribute may include a first political orgovernment entity, or other attribute. The second attribute may includea second political or government entity, or other attribute. In one ormore implementations, the first political or government entity mayinclude a first political party, a first political or governmentorganization, a first political or government figure, or other entity.The second political or government entity is a second political party, asecond political or government organization, a political or governmentfigure, or other entity.

In various implementations, the query input module may receive a secondinput relating to the query responsive to the set of suggestions (thatinclude a group of suggestions relating to the suggested sources, agroup of suggestions relating to the suggested information items, agroup of suggestions relating to the suggested keywords, or a group ofother suggestions) provided by the user interface module.

The comparison module may be configured to generate a comparison betweenthe first attribute and the second attribute based on the receivedsecond input. In some implementations, the user interface module may beconfigured to provide a presentation of the generated comparison on thedisplay of the user interface simultaneously with the query inputcomponent.

In certain implementations, the query input module may be configured toreceive an input relating to a query. The information retrieval modulemay be configured to determine a subset of information items of thepredefined sources that relate to the received input. In someimplementations, the comparison module may be configured to generate thecomparison based on one or more first sources of the predefined sourcesassociated with the determined subset that relate to the first attributeand one or more second sources of the predefined sources associated withthe determined subset that relate to the second attribute. In one ormore implementations, the comparison module may be configured togenerate the comparison based on one or more first information items ofthe determined subset that relate to the first attribute and one or moresecond information items of the determined subset that relate to thesecond attribute. In various implementations, the user interface modulemay be configured to provide a presentation of the comparison on adisplay of a user interface simultaneously with one or morerepresentations of the determined subset of the information items.

These and other features of the present invention, as well as themethods of operation and functions of the related elements of structureand the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will becomemore apparent upon consideration of the following description and theappended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all ofwhich form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to beexpressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration and description only and are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in theclaims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include pluralreferents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawing and in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a system for facilitating queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system, in accordance with one ormore implementations.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display of a user interfacethat presents a query input component and suggestions relating toreceived input entered via the query input component, in accordance withone or more implementations.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display of a userinterface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIGS. 3B-3I illustrate exemplary diagrams of components of a display ofa user interface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 3J illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display of a userinterface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display of a userinterface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIGS. 4B-4F illustrate exemplary diagrams of components of a display ofa user interface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display of a userinterface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIGS. 5B-5D illustrate exemplary diagrams of components of a display ofa user interface, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingqueries of a topic-based-source-specific search system, in accordancewith one or more implementations.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingqueries of a topic-based-source-specific search system, in accordancewith one or more implementations.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingcomparisons of predefined source attributes based on queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system, in accordance with one ormore implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the implementations of the invention. It will beappreciated, however, by one skilled in the art that the implementationsof the invention may be practiced without these specific details or withan equivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the implementations of the invention. It should be noted thatfeatures (e.g., components, operations, or other features) describedherein may be implemented separately or in combination with one another.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of system 100 for facilitating queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system, in accordance with one ormore implementations. System 100 may comprise thetopic-based-source-specific search system. Thetopic-based-source-specific search system may include one or moreservers 102. Server 102 (or servers 102) may be configured tocommunicate with one or more user devices 104 according to aclient/server architecture (e.g., over communication network 106 or viaother communication medium). Users may access system 100 via userdevices 104.

Server 102 may be configured to execute one or more computer programmodules to facilitate queries of a topic-based-source-specific searchsystem. The computer program modules may include a query input module108, a suggestion module 110, a user interface module 112, aninformation retrieval module 114, an indexing module 116, a user profilemodule 118, a comparison module 120, or other modules.

In certain implementations, the topic-based-search-specific searchsystem may be configured to collect information from predefined sourcesrelating to a content topic prior to queries of thetopic-based-search-specific search system. In some implementations, thecontent topic may correspond to government information or other type ofinformation. The search system may, for example, determine thepredefined sources and collect information from the predefined sourcesusing techniques as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/430,145, entitled “System and Method for Collecting, Processing, andPresenting Selected Information From Selected Sources via a SingleWebsite,” filed May 9, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by referenceon its entirety.

Query input module 108 may be configured to receive an input relating toa query. In one scenario, the received input may correspond to a portionof a query that a user has not yet submitted or otherwise completed. Thereceived input may, for instance, represent at least a portion of aquery that the user may submit. In another scenario, the received inputmay correspond to a complete query.

Suggestion module 110 may be configured to determine suggested ones ofthe predefined sources, suggested ones of information items of thepredefined sources, one or more suggested keywords, or other suggestionsbased on the received input. In certain implementations, the informationitems of the predefined sources may relate to press releases, speeches,opinions, statements, legislations, or other government information.Formats of the information items may correspond to one or more oftextual formats, image formats, audio formats, video formats, or otherformats. In some implementations, the suggested information items mayrelate to bills, laws, or other government information.

User interface module 112 may be configured to provide a set ofsuggestions including a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedsources, a group of suggestions relating to the suggested informationitems, a group of suggestions relating to the suggested keywords, or agroup of other suggestions for presentation on a user interface.

For example, FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display 200 ofa user interface that presents a query input component 202 andsuggestions relating to received input entered via query input component202, in accordance with one or more implementations. As shown by FIG. 2,“pelo” may be a portion of a query that has been entered via query inputcomponent 202. Responsive to the portion of the query being entered,source suggestions, keyword suggestions, and information itemsuggestions that relate to the portion of the query or a predicted queryof the query portion (e.g., “pelosi,” “pelosi remarks,” etc.) may bepresented on display 200 simultaneously with query input component 202.

In one use case, the source suggestions (e.g., Source 1, Source 2,Source 3, etc.) may identify sources with source names that includeterms or phrases relating to the portion of the query or the predictedquery, sources that include information items that indicate terms orphrases relating to the portion of the query or the predicted query, orother related sources. The source suggestions may, for example, bedetermined based on frequency that the information items of therespective sources indicate the related terms or phrases (e.g.,selecting source suggestions from sources with the greatest amounts ofinformation items that indicate the related terms or phrases areselected as source suggestions, sources with the greatest averagefrequencies of the related terms or phrases in their respectiveinformation items, etc.). The order of the source suggestions in thedepicted list may be based on frequency that the information items ofthe respective sources indicate the related terms or phrases (e.g.,suggested sources associated with greater frequencies are placed higheron the list, suggested sources associated with lower frequencies areplaced lower on the list, etc.).

In another use case, the keyword suggestions (e.g., Keyword Set 1,Keyword Set 2, Keyword Set 3, etc.) may identify predicted keywords orother related keywords. The keyword suggestions or the order of thekeyword suggestions may, for example, be based on frequency informationrelating to the suggested keywords. In yet another use case, theinformation item suggestions may identify information items of thepredefined sources that indicates terms or phrases relating to theportion of the query or the predicted query, or other relatedinformation items. The information item suggestions or the order of theinformation item suggestions may, for example, be based on frequencyinformation relating to the suggested information items.

In various implementations, suggestion module 110 may be configured todetermine the suggested sources based on a determination that one ormore identifiers of the suggested sources correspond to the receivedinput. With respect to FIG. 2, for example, the source suggestions mayinclude “Rep. Pelosi, Nancy—(D—CA),” “Office of the DemocraticLeader—Nancy Pelosi,” etc. In some implementations, suggestion module110 may be configured to determine the suggested sources based on adetermination that information items of the suggested sources correspondto the received input.

In certain implementations, user interface module 112 may be configuredto provide a query input component on a display of the user interface.The query input component may, for example, be configured to receiveinput. In some implementations, query input module 108 may be configuredto receive a second input relating to the query responsive to providingthe set of suggestions (that includes a group of suggestions relating tothe suggested sources, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedinformation items, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedkeywords, or a group of other suggestions). Information retrieval module114 may be configured to determine a subset of the information itemsthat relates to the received second input. Information retrieval module114 may be configured to determine one or more sources associated withthe determined subset of the information items. User interface module112 may provide one or more representations of the determined subset ofthe information items and one or more representations of the determinedsources on the display of the user interface simultaneously with thequery input component.

For example, FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary diagram of a display 300of a user interface, in accordance with one or more implementations. Asshown by FIG. 3A, display 300 may include query input components 202 and302. In one use case, query input component 202 may be configured toreceive input for a new search query. Query input component 302 may beconfigured to receive input to search within a current set of searchresults. Representation 304 may be a representation of an option to savethe current set of search results, save a query input corresponding tothe current set of search results, or save other information. The savedinformation may, for example, be stored in a user profile of a user.

As depicted by FIG. 3A, for example, display 300 may include feed area306, filter areas 308 and 310, item type selection area 312, a primaryinformation item area 314, one or more secondary information item areas316. Primary information item area 314 may include one or more sourcerepresentation areas 318 and corresponding item description areas 320.In one use case, responsive to selection of a suggested keyword via adrop-drop menu of suggestions that is presented based on a first inputentered into query input component 202, information items that relate tothe suggested keyword may be determined along with one or more sourcesthat are associated with the determined information items.Representations of the determined sources and representations of thedetermined information items may be presented on primary informationitem area 314 (e.g., source representation areas 318, item descriptionareas 320, etc.) and secondary information item areas 316.

In various implementations, user profile module 118 may be configured todetermine a source set associated with a user. The source set may, forexample, include at least one source associated with the user.Suggestion module 110 may be configured to determine second suggestedones of the predefined sources that are not included in the source set.User interface module 112 may be configured to provide a group ofsuggestions relating to the suggested sources on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component, therepresentations of the determined subset of the information items, andthe representations of the determined sources (e.g., the sources of thepredefined sources that relate to the determined subset of theinformation items) based on a determination that the second suggestedsources are not included in the source set.

For example, with respect to FIGS. 3B and 3C, feed area 306 may includesub-areas 322, 324, 326, and 328. In one use case, when sub-area 322(e.g., “Feed”) is selected, representations of sources that a user isfollowing and representations of information items of the followedsources may be presented in the primary information item area 314 andthe secondary information item areas 316. The representations of thefollowed sources and the representations of the information items of thefollowed sources may, for example, be ordered in the primary informationitem area 314 and the secondary information item areas 316 based onrelevancy, date, or other criteria.

When sub-area 324 (e.g., “Following”) is selected, a query inputcomponent may be presented in display 300 that is configured to receiveinputs relating to a query of sources that are not currently followed bythe user. Initially, for example, suggested ones of the sources that arenot currently followed by the user may be determined based on relevancyof the sources to the user (e.g., the suggested not-currently-followedsources may relate to the information items of the followed sources, theinformation items resulting from a query search, a bookmarkedinformation item, etc.), and presented on display 300 as a drop-downmenu over feed area 306. Upon input being entered in the field of thequery input component depicted in FIG. 3C, the suggestednon-currently-followed sources may be updated to reflect the enteredinput. For example, responsive to “tax” being entered, non-currentlyfollowed sources that relate to the input “tax” may be presented assuggested sources on display 300. Suggested Sources 1-3 may, forinstance, be associated with source identifiers that correspond to theinput “tax.” Suggested Sources 4-6 may be associated with informationitems that “deal with ‘tax.’”

In certain implementations, information retrieval module 114 may beconfigured to determine one or more first information items of thedetermined subset of the information items and one or more secondinformation items of the determined subset of the information itemsbased on one or more filters. For example, with respect to FIGS. 3D and3E, filters areas 308 and 310 may enable refinement of the sources andthe information items that are represented in primary information itemarea 314 and secondary information item areas 316. One or more of thefilters (e.g., keywords, figures, organizations, places, date, partyaffiliation, state delegation, or other filters) may be selected torefine the represented sources and information items in primaryinformation item area 314 and secondary information item areas 316.Filter areas 308 and 310 may be expanded to provide additional filtersin display 300 or in another display.

In various implementations, information retrieval module 114 may beconfigured to determine the first information items of the determinedsubset based on one or more first filters. Information retrieval module114 may be configured to determine the second information items of thedetermined subset based on one or more second filters. User interfacemodule 112 may be configured to provide one or more representations ofthe first information items in a first area on the display of the userinterface and one or more representations of the second informationitems in a second area on the display of the user interface. In one usecase, with respect to FIG. 3E, “Time Range 1” and “Party 1” may beselected as the first filters, and “Time Range 1” and “Party 2” may beselected as the second filters. As such, for instance, information itemsof the determined subset that relate to “Time Range 1” and “Party 1” maybe represented in a first list in display 300, and information items ofthe determined subset that relate to “Time Range 1” and “Party 2” may berepresented in a second list in display 300 (e.g., side-by-side lists,primary list and secondary list, etc.). In this way, among otherbenefits, system 100 may enable users to compares the different filteredresult sets alongside one another on a single display and modify therespective filtered sets to update each of the filtered result sets onthe single display.

In some implementations, the first filters may relate to one or more offirst political entities, first government entities, or firstlegislations. The second filters may relate to one or more of secondpolitical entities, second government entities, or second legislations.By way of example, political or government entities may includepolitical parties (e.g., Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc.),political or government organizations, political or government figures,or other political or government entities. Legislations may includeamendments, bills, laws, resolutions, or other legislation.

In certain implementations, user profile module 118 may be configured todetermine a source set associated with a user. The source set may, forinstance, include at least one source associated with the user. Userinterface module 112 may be configured to provide one or morerepresentations to modify the source set on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component, therepresentations of the determined subset (e.g., the subset of theinformation items that relate to the received input), and therepresentations of the determined sources (e.g., the sources of thepredefined sources that relate to the determined subset of theinformation items).

For example, with respect to FIG. 3F, each of the source representationareas 318 that are provided on display 300 may include asource-set-modifier 330 (e.g., “+” to add a source to the source set,“−” to remove a source from the source set, etc.). A user may, forinstance, follow or unfollow a particular source usingsource-set-modifier 330 to add or remove the source to/from the sourceset associated with the user. Thus, among other benefits, a user mayquickly follow or unfollow sources based on individual ones of theinformation items that are presented on display 300 without necessarilyhaving to directly search for or access the sources. In one scenario, ifa source-set-modifier 330 corresponding to the source is arepresentation of an option to add the source, a single click or touch(or other input corresponding to selecting the option) may trigger userprofile module 118 to add the source to the source set associated withthe user. If the source-set-modifier 330 corresponding to the source isa representation of an option to remove the source, a single click ortouch may trigger user profile module 118 to remove the source from thesource set associated with the user. In another scenario, a click ortouch (or other input corresponding to selecting the option) ofsource-set-modifier 330 may prompt the user with a request to add orremove the source to/from the source set associated with the user.

In some implementations, user profile module 118 may be configured todetermine that the source set includes a first source of the determinedsources (e.g., the sources of the predefined sources that relate to thedetermined subset of the information items). User profile module 118 maybe configured to determine that the source set do not include a secondsource of the determined sources. In one or more implementations, therepresentations of the modify options may include a representation of anoption to remove the first source from the source set based on thedetermination that the source set includes the first source and arepresentation of an option to add the second source to the source setbased on the determination that the source set does not include thesecond source.

For example, with respect to FIGS. 3A and 3F, if the sourcecorresponding to source representation area 318 a and item descriptionarea 320 a is a source that a user currently follows (e.g., the sourceset includes the source corresponding to areas 318 a and 320 a), thesource-set-modifier 330 in source representation area 318 a may depict a“−” symbol to indicate the option to unfollow the source correspondingto areas 318 a and 320 a. On the other hand, if the source correspondingto source representation area 318 b and item description area 320 b is asource that the user is not currently following (e.g., the source setdoes not include the source corresponding to areas 318 b and 320 b), thesource-set-modifier 330 in source representation area 318 b may depict a“+” symbol to indicate the option to follow the source corresponding toareas 318 b and 320 b. In this way, among other benefits, system 100 mayenable users to quickly determine related sources that they currentlyfollow or do not follow as the users browse the representations of theinformation items on display 300.

In various implementations, user profile module 118 may be configured toassociate one or more first item types with a primary item type setbased on one or more inputs corresponding to selection of the first itemtypes. User interface module 112 may be configured to provide one ormore representations of first information items of the determined subset(e.g., the subset of the information items that relate to the receivedinput) in a primary area on the display of the user interface based on adetermination that the first information items are associated with thefirst item types. User interface module 112 may be configured to provideone or more representations of second information items of thedetermined subset in a secondary area on the display of the userinterface based on a determination that the second information items areassociated with one or more second item types. The primary area and thesecondary area may, for example, be provided on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component and thedetermined sources (e.g., the sources of the predefined sources thatrelate to the determined subset of the information items).

By way of example, with respect to FIGS. 3G and 3H, individual ones ofthe information items associated with the first item types may berepresented by item description areas 320 in primary information itemarea 314 alongside a corresponding source representation area 318 (e.g.,that includes a graphical representation of the source), and individualones of the information items associated with the second item types maybe represented by item description areas 332 in secondary informationitem area 316 alongside a corresponding source representation area 334(e.g., that includes a graphical representation of the source).Individual ones of the item description areas 320 in primary informationitem area 314 may include more area for details (e.g., title of aninformation item, type of an information item, number of words in aninformation item, length or duration of an information item, date of aninformation item, etc.) relating to the corresponding information itemthan individual ones of the item description areas 332 in secondaryinformation item area 316. As depicted by FIGS. 3G and 3H, individualones of the item description areas 320 in primary information item area314 may include a representation 336 of an option to bookmark, share, orinitiate other operations, and individual ones of the item descriptionareas 332 in secondary information item area 316 may not include such arepresentation.

In some implementations, user interface module 112 may be configured toprovide one or more representations of options to select or unselect aplurality of item types to modify the primary item type set on thedisplay of the user interface simultaneously with the query inputcomponent, the representations of the determined sources, the primaryarea, and the secondary area. In one or more implementations, userinterface module 112 may be configured to provide the representations ofthe first information items in the primary area and the representationsof the second information items in the secondary area based on one ormore inputs corresponding to selecting the first item types of theplurality of item types or unselecting the second item types of theplurality of item types.

For example, with respect to FIG. 3I, item type selection area 312 mayinclude selectable item types. In one use case, responsive to only “ItemType 1” being a selected item type, representations of information itemsassociated with “Item Type 1” may be provided in primary informationitem area 314, and representations of information items associated with“Item Type 2” or “Item Type 3” may be provided in secondary informationitem areas 316. In another use case, responsive to “Item Type 3” beingselected in addition to “Item Type 1” being selected, representations ofinformation items associated with “Item Type 1” or “Item Type 3” may beprovided in primary information item area 314, and representations ofinformation items associated with “Item Type 2” may be provided in oneof secondary information item areas 316. In yet another use case,responsive to “Item Type 1” being unselected (and “Item Type 3”remaining selected), representations of information items associatedwith “Item Type 3” may be provided in primary information item area 314,and representations of information items associated with “Item Type 1”or “Item Type 2” may be provided in secondary information item areas316.

In certain implementations, user interface module 112 may be configuredto remove the secondary area from view on the display of the userinterface based on a determination that each of the plurality of itemtypes is selected. For example, with respect to FIGS. 3I and 3J,responsive to “Item Type 1,” “Item Type 2,” and “Item Type 3” beingselected, secondary information item areas 316 may be hidden, collapsed,or otherwise removed from view on display 300. As depicted in FIG. 3J,responsive to removal of secondary information item areas 316 from viewon display 300, primary information item area 314 is expanded on display300.

In some implementations, user interface module 112 may be configured toprovide one of the information items of the determined subset on asecond display of the user interface. Suggestion module 110 may beconfigured to determine suggested keywords that relate to a second queryand the presented information item. User interface module 112 may beconfigured to provide a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedkeywords on the second display of the user interface simultaneously withthe presented information item.

For example, with respect to FIG. 4A, display 400 may include a sourcerepresentation area 402, a related information item area 404, a querysuggestion area 406, a general information area 408, and a main contentarea 410. As shown by FIG. 4B, source representation area may provide arepresentation (e.g., graphical representation or other representation)of the source of the presented information item, a summary of the source(e.g., 3000 Type 1 Information Items, 2000 Type 2 Information Items, and5000 Total Information Items, etc.), a representation of an option tofollow or unfollow the source, or other features. As illustrated by FIG.4C, related information item area 404 may include source representationareas 412 that correspond to the source of the presented informationitem, item description areas 416 that correspond to the source of thepresented information item, or other features.

As depicted by FIG. 4D, query suggestion area 406 may include new querysuggestions. The new query suggestions may include suggested keywords,suggested people, suggested places, or other suggestions. The suggestedkeywords, the suggested people, or the suggested places may, forexample, relate to the presented information item. In one use case, withrespect to FIGS. 4D, 4E, and 4F, the suggested keywords, the suggestedpeople, or the suggested places may correspond to terms or phrases ingeneral information area 408 and main content area 410 (e.g., querykeywords that generated search results having the presented informationitem, terms or phrases corresponding to related links in presentedinformation item, near-matches terms or phrases corresponding to thequery keywords, etc.).

As shown by FIG. 4E, general information area 408 may include generalinformation relating to the presented information item, a representation418 of an option to bookmark the presented information item, share thepresented information item, or perform other operations relating to thepresented information item, or other features. As depicted by FIG. 4F,main content area 410 may include the main content of the presentedinformation item, a representation 420 of an option to bookmark thepresented information item, share the presented information item, orperform other operations relating to the presented information item, orother features. In one use case, portions of general information area408 or main content area 410 may be highlighted with one or moredistinguishing features to indicate relevance or other indications. Asan example, query keywords that generated search results having thepresented information item may be highlighted a first color, terms orphrases corresponding to related links in presented information item maybe highlighted a second color, near-matches terms or phrasescorresponding to the query keywords may be highlighted a third color,etc.

In certain implementations, indexing module 116 may be configured tostore metadata in association with the predefined sources or theinformation items of the predefined sources. The metadata may indicate afirst attribute relating to first ones of the predefined sources or theinformation items, a second attribute relating to second ones of thepredefined sources or the information items, or other attribute. In someimplementations, the first attribute may include a first political orgovernment entity, or other attribute. The second attribute may includea second political or government entity, or other attribute. In one ormore implementations, the first political or government entity mayinclude a first political party, a first political or governmentorganization, a first political or government figure, or other entity.The second political or government entity is a second political party, asecond political or government organization, a political or governmentfigure, or other entity.

In various implementations, query input module 108 may receive a secondinput relating to the query responsive to the set of suggestions (thatinclude a group of suggestions relating to the suggested sources, agroup of suggestions relating to the suggested information items, agroup of suggestions relating to the suggested keywords, or a group ofother suggestions) provided by user interface module 112. In one usecase, the received second input may correspond to a selection of atleast one of the provided suggestions.

Comparison module 120 may be configured to generate a comparison betweenthe first attribute and the second attribute based on the receivedsecond input. In some implementations, user interface module 112 may beconfigured to provide a presentation of the generated comparison on thedisplay of the user interface simultaneously with the query inputcomponent.

For example, with respect to FIG. 5A, display 500 may include queryinput component 202, comparison area 502, attribute area 504, firstinformation item area 506 a, and second information item area 506 b. Inone scenario, with respect to FIG. 5B, a selection of suggested keywords(e.g., “health care”) may generate a graph 508 shown in comparison area502. The graph may, for example, illustrate a comparison between thepercentages of information items by “Democrat” sources that mention“health care” and the percentages of information items by “Republican”sources that mention “health care” over a series of dates (e.g., Date0-7). The line 510 a may represent the percentages corresponding to“Democrat” sources, and the line 510 b may represent the percentagescorresponding to “Republican” sources. In another scenario, with respectto FIG. 5B, graph 508 may include selectable data points 512 along lines510 a or 510 b. A user may, for example, click, touch, or otherwiseselect one of the data points 512 to trigger one or more presentationsof information items that correspond to the selected data point 512.

In another scenario, with respect to FIG. 5C, attribute area 504 mayallow a user to view or modify the attributes being compared by graph508 as well as the keywords from which graph 508 is based. Attributearea 504 may include query input components 514 a and 514 b, attributemenu components 516 a and 516 b, and a query input component 518. As anexample, a user may utilize query input component 514 a to perform asuggestive search of attributes to determine a first attribute forcomparison and query input component 514 b to perform a suggestivesearch of attributes to determine a second attribute for comparison.Responsive to determination of each attribute, the attributes to becompared may be presented respectively on attribute menu components 516a and 516 b to indicate to the user the attributes to be compared.Available attributes may, for example, include “House Democrats” and“House Republicans” in general, individual politicians of the “HouseDemocrats” or the “House Republicans,” or other attributes.

As another example, attribute menu components 516 a and 516 b mayprovide a user with scrollable drop-down menus of the availableattributes for comparison. The user may scroll through the drop-menus todetermine the attributes to be compared. As yet another example, a usermay modify the criteria (e.g., keywords or other criteria) with whichthe comparison of the attributes are based using query input component518.

In certain implementations, query input module 108 may be configured toreceive an input relating to a query. Information retrieval module 114may be configured to determine a subset of information items of thepredefined sources that relate to the received input. In someimplementations, comparison module 120 may be configured to generate thecomparison based on one or more first sources of the predefined sourcesassociated with the determined subset that relate to the first attributeand one or more second sources of the predefined sources associated withthe determined subset that relate to the second attribute. In one ormore implementations, comparison module 120 may be configured togenerate the comparison based on one or more first information items ofthe determined subset that relate to the first attribute and one or moresecond information items of the determined subset that relate to thesecond attribute.

In various implementations, user interface module 112 may be configuredto provide a presentation of the comparison on a display of a userinterface simultaneously with one or more representations of thedetermined subset of the information items. For example, with respect toFIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D, inputs entered into query input components 202or 518 may generate a result set of information items for each of theattributes being compared along with graph 508. For example, where afirst attribute being compared is “House Leaders Democrat,” secondattribute being compared is “Senate Leaders Democrat,” and the criteriais “health care,” a result set of information items that relate to“health care” and are associated with “House Leader Democrat” sourcesmay be provided in first information item area 506 a, and a result setof information items that relate to “health care” and are associatedwith “Senate Leader Democrat” sources may be provided in secondinformation item area 506 b. As illustrated by FIG. 5D, each of theinformation item areas 506 a and 506 b may include source representationarea 520 of sources associated with the information items, itemdescription areas 522, or other features.

User device 104 may comprise any type of mobile terminal, fixedterminal, and/or other device. For example, user device 104 may comprisea desktop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a tabletcomputer, a smartphone, a navigation device, an electronic book device,a gaming device, and/or any other user device. In some implementations,user device 104 may comprise the accessories and peripherals of thesedevices. User device 104 may also support any type of interface to theuser (such as “wearable” circuitry, etc.).

Communication network 106 of system 100 may comprise one or morenetworks such as a data network, a wireless network, a telephonynetwork, and/or other communication networks. A data network maycomprise any local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN),wide area network (WAN), a public data network (e.g., the Internet),short range wireless network, and/or any other suitable packet-switchednetwork. The wireless network may, for example, comprise a cellularnetwork and may employ various technologies including enhanced datarates for global evolution (EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS),global system for mobile communications (GSM), Internet protocolmultimedia subsystem (IMS), universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS), etc., as well as any other suitable wireless medium (e.g.,worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Long TermEvolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), widebandcode division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity (WiFi),wireless LAN (WLAN), Bluetooth, Internet Protocol (IP) data casting,satellite, mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), etc.).

In some implementations, server 102 may include an electronic storage122, one or more processors 124, and/or other components. Server 102 mayinclude communication lines, or ports to enable the exchange ofinformation with a network and/or other computing platforms.Illustration of server 102 in FIG. 1 is not intended to be limiting.Server 102 may include a plurality of hardware, software, and/orfirmware components operating together to provide the functionalityattributed herein to server 102. For example, server 102 may beimplemented by a cloud of computing platforms operating together asserver 102.

Electronic storage 122 may comprise non-transitory storage media thatelectronically stores information. The electronic storage media ofelectronic storage 122 may include one or both of system storage that isprovided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server 102and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server 102via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or adrive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 122 may include oneor more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.),magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic harddrive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g.,EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.),and/or other electronically readable storage media. Electronic storage122 may include one or more virtual storage resources (e.g., cloudstorage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storageresources). Electronic storage 122 may store software algorithms,information determined by processor 124, information received fromserver 102, information received from user devices 104, and/or otherinformation that enables server 102 to function as described herein. Insome implementations, electronic storage may comprise a non-transitory,tangible computer-readable storage medium with an executable programstored thereon, wherein the program instructs a microprocessor toperform some or all of the functionality of modules 106, 108, 110, 112,114, 116, 118, 120, and/or other modules.

Processor 124 is configured to provide information processingcapabilities in server 102. As such, processor 124 may include one ormore of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuitdesigned to process information, an analog circuit designed to processinformation, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronicallyprocessing information. Although processor 124 is shown in FIG. 1 as asingle entity, this is for illustrative purposes only. In someimplementations, processor 124 may include a plurality of processingunits. These processing units may be physically located within the samedevice, or processor 124 may represent processing functionality of aplurality of devices operating in coordination. Processor 124 may beconfigured to execute modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120,and/or other modules. Processor 124 may be configured to execute modules106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, and/or other modules bysoftware; hardware; firmware; some combination of software, hardware,and/or firmware; and/or other mechanisms for configuring processingcapabilities on processor 124.

It should be appreciated that although modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114,116, 118 and 120 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as being co-located within asingle processing unit, in implementations in which processor 124includes multiple processing units, one or more of modules 106, 108,110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or 120 may be located remotely from theother modules. The description of the functionality provided by thedifferent modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or 120described below is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to belimiting, as any of modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or120 may provide more or less functionality than is described. Forexample, one or more of modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118,and/or 120 may be eliminated, and some or all of its functionality maybe provided by other ones of modules 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118,and/or 120. As another example, processor 124 may be configured toexecute one or more additional modules that may perform some or all ofthe functionality attributed below to one of modules 106, 108, 110, 112,114, 116, 118, and/or 120.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingqueries of a topic-based-source-specific search system, in accordancewith one or more implementations. The operations of process 600presented below are intended to be illustrative. In someimplementations, process 600 may be accomplished with one or moreadditional operations not described, and/or without one or more of theoperations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations ofprocess 600 are illustrated in FIG. 6 and described below is notintended to be limiting.

In certain implementations, one or more operations of process 600 may beimplemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digitalprocessor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to processinformation, an analog circuit designed to process information, a statemachine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processinginformation). The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices executing some or all of the operations of process 600 inresponse to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storagemedium. The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to bespecifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations ofprocess 600.

In certain implementations, the topic-based-source-system may beconfigured to collect information from predefined sources relating to acontent topic prior to queries of the topic-based-source-system. In someimplementations, the content topic may correspond to governmentinformation or other type of information.

In an operation 602, a query input component may be provided on adisplay of a user interface. The query input component may be configuredto receive input. Operation 602 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 604, an input relating to a query may be received.Operation 604 may be performed by a query input module that is the sameas or similar to query input module 108, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

In an operation 606, suggested ones of the predefined sources, suggestedones of information items of the predefined sources, and one or moresuggested keywords may be determined based on the received input. Incertain implementations, the information items may relate to one or moreof press releases, speeches, opinions, statements, legislation, or othergovernment information. In some implementations, the selectedinformation items may relate to bills or laws. Operation 606 may beperformed by a suggestion module that is the same as or similar tosuggestion module 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 608, a set of suggestions including a group ofsuggestions relating to the suggested sources, a group of suggestionsrelating to the suggested information items, and a group of suggestionsrelating to the suggested keywords may be provided for presentation onthe user interface. Operation 608 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 610, a second input relating to the query may bereceived. The second input may be received responsive to providing theset of suggestions. Operation 610 may be performed by a query inputmodule that is the same as or similar to query input module 108, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 612, a subset of the information items that relates tothe received second input may be determined. Operation 612 may beperformed by an information retrieval module that is the same as orsimilar to information retrieval module 114, in accordance with one ormore implementations.

In an operation 614, one or more sources associated with the determinedsubset of the information items may be determined. The determinedsources may include one or more political or government sources. Thepolitical or government sources may relate to one or more politicalparties, political or government organizations, political or governmentfigures, or other political or government sources. Operation 614 may beperformed by an information retrieval module that is the same as orsimilar to information retrieval module 114, in accordance with one ormore implementations.

In certain implementations, one or more representations of thedetermined subset of the information items and one or morerepresentations of the determined sources may be provided on the displayof the user interface simultaneously with the query input component.Providing of the representations of the determined subset and therepresentations of the determined sources may be performed by a userinterface module that is the same as or similar to user interface module112, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 616, a source set associated with a user may bedetermined. The source set may include at least one source associatedwith the user. Operation 616 may be performed by a user profile modulethat is the same as or similar to user profile module 118, in accordancewith one or more implementations.

In an operation 618, the source set may be determined to include a firstsource of the determined sources and determined not to include a secondsource of the determined sources. Operation 618 may be performed by auser profile module that is the same as or similar to user profilemodule 118, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 620, a representation of an option to remove the firstsource (of the determined sources) from the source set and arepresentation of an option to add the second source (of the determinedsources) to the source set may be provided on the display of the userinterface simultaneously with the query input component, therepresentations of the determined subset, and the representations of thedetermined sources. Operation 620 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 622, one or more first item types may be associated witha primary item type set. The first item types may be associated with theprimary item type set based on one or more inputs corresponding toselection of the first item types. Operation 622 may be performed by auser profile module that is the same as or similar to user profilemodule 118, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 624, one or more representations of first informationitems of the determined subset may be provided in a primary area on thedisplay of the user interface. The representations of the firstinformation items may be provided in the primary area based on adetermination that the first information items are associated with thefirst item types. Operation 624 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 626, one or more representations of second informationitems of the determined subset may be provided in a secondary area onthe display of the user interface. The representations of the secondinformation items may be provided in the secondary area based on adetermination that the second information items are associated with thesecond item types. In some implementations, the first item types areassociated with the primary item type set. The second item types are notassociated with the primary item type set. Operation 626 may beperformed by a user interface module that is the same as or similar touser interface module 112, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

In an operation 628, one or more representations of options to select orunselect a plurality of item types to modify the primary item type setmay be provided on the display of the user interface simultaneously withthe query input component, the representations of the determined subset,the representations of the determined sources, the primary area, and thesecondary area. In some implementations, the secondary area may beremoved from view of on the display of the user interface based on adetermination that each of the plurality of item types is selected.Operation 628 may be performed by a user interface module that is thesame as or similar to user interface module 112, in accordance with oneor more implementations.

In an operation 630, one of the information items of the determinedsubset may be provided on a second display of the user interface.Operation 630 may be performed by a user interface module that is thesame as or similar to user interface module 112, in accordance with oneor more implementations.

In an operation 632, one or more suggested keywords that relate to asecond query of the predefined sources and the presented informationitem may be determined. Operation 632 may be performed by a suggestionmodule that is the same as or similar to suggestion module 110, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 634, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedkeywords may be provided on the second display of the user interfacesimultaneously with the presented information item. Operation 634 may beperformed by a user interface module that is the same as or similar touser interface module 112, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingqueries of a topic-based-source-specific search system, in accordancewith one or more implementations. The operations of process 700presented below are intended to be illustrative. In someimplementations, process 700 may be accomplished with one or moreadditional operations not described, and/or without one or more of theoperations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations ofprocess 700 are illustrated in FIG. 7 and described below is notintended to be limiting.

In certain implementations, one or more operations of process 700 may beimplemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digitalprocessor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to processinformation, an analog circuit designed to process information, a statemachine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processinginformation). The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices executing some or all of the operations of process 700 inresponse to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storagemedium. The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to bespecifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations ofprocess 700.

In certain implementations, the topic-based-source-system may beconfigured to collect information from predefined sources relating to acontent topic prior to queries of the topic-based-source-system. In someimplementations, the content topic may correspond to governmentinformation or other type of information.

In an operation 702, a query input component may be provided on adisplay of a user interface. The query input component may be configuredto receive input. Operation 702 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 704, an input relating to a query may be received.Operation 704 may be performed by a query input module that is the sameas or similar to query input module 108, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

In an operation 706, a subset of information items of the predefinedsources that relates to the received input may be determined. In certainimplementations, the information items may relate to one or more ofpress releases, speeches, opinions, statements, legislations, or othergovernment information. Operation 706 may be performed by an informationretrieval module that is the same as or similar to information retrievalmodule 114, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 708, one or more first filters and one or more secondfilters to be applied to the determined subset of the information itemsmay be determined. Operation 708 may be performed by an informationretrieval module that is the same as or similar to information retrievalmodule 114, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 710, one or more first information items of thedetermined subset may be determined based on the first filters. In someimplementations, the first filters may relate to one or more of firstpolitical entities, first government entities, or first legislations.Operation 710 may be performed by an information retrieval module thatis the same as or similar to information retrieval module 114, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 712, one or more second information items of thedetermined subset may be determined based on the second filters. In someimplementations, the second filters may relate to one or more of secondpolitical entities, second government entities, or second legislations.Operation 712 may be performed by an information retrieval module thatis the same as or similar to information retrieval module 114, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 714, one or more representations of the firstinformation items of the determined subset may be provided in a firstarea on the display of the user interface, and one or morerepresentations of the second information items of the determined subsetmay be provided in a second area of the display of the user interface.The representations of the first information items and therepresentations of the second information items may be presented on thedisplay simultaneously with the query input component. Operation 714 maybe performed by a user interface module that is the same as or similarto user interface module 112, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

In an operation 716, a source set associated with a user may bedetermined. The source set may include at least one source associatedwith the user. Operation 716 may be performed by a user profile modulethat is the same as or similar to user profile module 118, in accordancewith one or more implementations.

In an operation 718, suggested ones of the predefined sources that arenot included in the source set may be determined. Operation 718 may beperformed by a suggestion module that is the same as or similar tosuggestion module 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 720, a group of suggestions relating to the suggestedsources may be provided on the display of the user interfacesimultaneously with the query input component, the representations ofthe first information items, the representations of the secondinformation items. In some implementations, the group of suggestionsrelating to the suggested sources may be provided on the display of theuser interface based on a determination that the suggested sources arenot included in the source set. Operation 720 may be performed by a userinterface module that is the same as or similar to user interface module112, in accordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of processing operations for facilitatingcomparisons of predefined source attributes based on queries of atopic-based-source-specific search system, in accordance with one ormore implementations. The operations of process 800 presented below areintended to be illustrative. In some implementations, process 800 may beaccomplished with one or more additional operations not described,and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally,the order in which the operations of process 800 are illustrated in FIG.8 and described below is not intended to be limiting.

In certain implementations, one or more operations of process 800 may beimplemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digitalprocessor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to processinformation, an analog circuit designed to process information, a statemachine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processinginformation). The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices executing some or all of the operations of process 800 inresponse to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storagemedium. The one or more processing devices may include one or moredevices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to bespecifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations ofprocess 800.

In certain implementations, the topic-based-source-system may beconfigured to collect information from predefined sources relating to acontent topic prior to queries of the topic-based-source-system. In someimplementations, the content topic may correspond to governmentinformation or other type of information.

In an operation 802, metadata may be stored in association with thepredefined sources or information items of the predefined sources. Themetadata may indicate a first attribute relating to first ones of thepredefined sources or the information items, a second attribute relatingto second ones of the predefined sources or the information items, orother attribute. In various implementations, the first attribute maycorrespond to a first political or government entity. The secondattribute may correspond to a second political or government entity. Insome implementations, the first political or government entity maycorrespond to a first political party, a first political or governmentorganization, a first political or government figure, or other politicalor government entity. The second political or government entity maycorrespond to a second political party, a second political or governmentorganization, a second political or government figure, or otherpolitical or government entity. Operation 802 may be performed by anindexing module that is the same as or similar to indexing module 116,in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 804, a query input component may be provided on adisplay of a user interface. The query input component may be configuredto receive input. Operation 804 may be performed by a user interfacemodule that is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 806, an input relating to a query may be received.Operation 806 may be performed by a query input module that is the sameas or similar to query input module 108, in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

In an operation 808, a subset of information items of the predefinedsources that relate to the received input may be determined. Operation808 may be performed by an information retrieval module that is the sameas or similar to information retrieval module 114, in accordance withone or more implementations.

In an operation 810, a comparison between the first attribute indicatedby the stored metadata and the second attribute indicated by the storedmetadata may be generated based on the determined subset. In certainimplementations, the comparison may be generated based on one or morefirst information items of the determined subset that relate to thefirst attribute and one or more second information items of thedetermined subset that relate to the second attribute. In someimplementations, the comparison may be generated based on one or morefirst sources of the predefined sources associated with the determinedsubset that relate to the first attribute and one or more second sourcesof the predefined sources associated with the determined subset thatrelate to the second attribute. Operation 810 may be performed by acomparison module that is the same as or similar to comparison module120, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 812, the generated comparison and representations of thedetermined subset of the information items may be provided on thedisplay of the user interface simultaneously with the query inputcomponent. Operation 812 may be performed by a user interface modulethat is the same as or similar to user interface module 112, inaccordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 814, a second input relating to a second query of aplurality of attributes may be received. Operation 814 may be performedby a query input module that is the same as or similar to query inputmodule 108, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 816, suggested ones of the plurality of attributes maybe determined based on the received second input. Operation 816 may beperformed by a suggestion module that is the same as or similar tosuggestion module 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.

In an operation 818, a group of suggested relating to the suggestedattributes may be provided on the display of the user interfacesimultaneously with the query input component, the generated comparison,and the representations of the determined subset of the informationitems. Operation 818 may be performed by a user interface module that isthe same as or similar to user interface module 112, in accordance withone or more implementations.

Although the present invention has been described in detail for thepurpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be themost practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understoodthat such detail is solely for that purpose and that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed implementations, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that arewithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it isto be understood that the present invention contemplates that, to theextent possible, one or more features of any implementation can becombined with one or more features of any other implementation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of facilitatingqueries of a topic-based-source-specific search system, the searchsystem being configured to collect information from predefined sources,wherein each of the predefined sources relates to a content topic and isassociated with information items, the method being implemented by thesearch system that includes one or more processors executing one or morecomputer program instructions which, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the search system to perform the method, the methodcomprising: receiving, by the search system, a first portion of a query;identifying, by the search system, a first set of the predefined sourcesbased on the first portion of the query; receiving, by the searchsystem, a second portion of the query; identifying, by the searchsystem, a second set of the predefined sources based on the secondportion of the query; causing, by the search system, a suggested groupof sources to search to be provided for presentation on a userinterface, the suggested group of sources comprising at least the secondset of the predefined sources; causing, by the search system, a queryinput component to be provided on a display of the user interface,wherein the query input component is configured to receive input;identifying, by the search system, a source set associated with a user,wherein the source set includes at least one source associated with theuser; determining, by the search system, that the source set includes atleast a first source of the suggested group of sources; determining, bythe search system, that the source set does not include at least asecond source of the suggested group of sources; causing, by the searchsystem, one or more representations of options to modify the source setto be provided on a display of the user interface simultaneously withthe query input component and the suggested group of sources, whereinthe representations of the options to modify include a representation ofan option to remove the first source from the source set based on thedetermination that the source set includes the first source and arepresentation of an option to add the second source to the source setbased on the determination that the source set does not include thesecond source.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion ofthe query comprises a first term or phrase, and wherein identifying thefirst set of the predefined sources comprises: determining, by thesearch system, that the first term or phrase appears in a name of eachof the sources in the first set of the predefined sources, wherein thefirst set of the predefined sources is identified based further on theappearance of the first term or phrase in the name of each of thesources in the first set of the predefined sources.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the second portion of the query comprises a second termor phrase, and wherein identifying the second set of the predefinedsources comprises: determining, by the search system, that the secondterm or phrase appears in a name of each of the sources in the secondset of the predefined sources, wherein the second set of the predefinedsources is identified based further on the appearance of the second termor phrase in the name of each of the sources in the second set of thepredefined sources.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set ofthe predefined sources comprises a subset of the first set of thepredefined sources.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portionof the query comprises a first term or phrase, and wherein identifyingthe first set of the predefined sources comprises: determining, by thesearch system, a number of information items from the first set of thepredefined sources that include the first term or phrase, wherein thefirst set of the predefined sources is identified based further on thenumber of information items from the first set of the predefined sourcesthat include the first term or phrase.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe second portion of the query comprises a second term or phrase, andwherein identifying the second set of the predefined sources comprises:determining, by the search system, a second number of information itemsfrom the second set of the predefined sources that include the secondterm or phrase, wherein the second set of the predefined sources isidentified based further on the second number of information items fromthe second set of the predefined sources that include the second term orphrase.
 7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:identifying, by the search system, a set of suggested information itemsrelating to the suggested group of sources.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the content topic corresponds to government information, andwherein the set of suggested information items relate to one or more ofbills or laws.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the content topiccorresponds to government information, and wherein the set of suggestedinformation items relate to one or more of press releases, speeches,opinions, statements, or legislation.
 10. The method of claim 7, themethod further comprising: causing, by the search system, one or morefirst item types to be associated with a primary item type set based onone or more inputs corresponding to a selection of the first item types;causing, by the search system, one or more representations of firstinformation items of the suggested information items to be provided in aprimary area on a display of the user interface based on a determinationthat the first information items are associated with the first itemtypes; and causing, by the search system, one or more representations ofsecond information items of the suggested information items to beprovided in a secondary area on the display of the user interface basedon a determination that the second information items are associated withone or more second item types, wherein the primary area and thesecondary area are provided on the display of the user interfacesimultaneously with a query input component and the suggested group ofsources.
 11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising:causing, by the search system, one or more representations of options toselect or unselect a plurality of item types to modify the primary itemtype set to be provided on the display of the user interface, whereincausing the representations of the first information items to beprovided in the primary area and the representations of the secondinformation items to be provided in the secondary area is based on oneor more inputs corresponding to selecting the first item types of theplurality of item types or unselecting second item types of theplurality of item types.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein thesecondary area is removed from view on the display of the user interfacebased on a determination that each of the plurality of item types isselected.
 13. The method of claim 7, wherein the set of suggestedinformation items include at least a first information item, the methodfurther comprising: causing, by the search system, the first informationitem to be provided on a second display of the user interface;identifying, by the search system, suggested keywords that relate to asecond query and the first information item; and causing, by the searchsystem, a group of suggestions relating to the suggested keywords on thesecond display of the user interface simultaneously with the firstinformation item.
 14. The method of claim 1, the method furthercomprising: causing, by the search system, a first attribute relating tothe first set of the predefined sources to be stored in association withthe first set of predefined sources, and a second attribute relating tothe second set of the predefined sources to be stored in associationwith the second set of predefined sources; receiving, by the searchsystem, a second input relating to the query; and causing, by the searchsystem, a presentation of a comparison between the first attribute andthe second attribute to be provided based on the received second input.15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first attribute corresponds to afirst political or government entity, and wherein the second attributecorresponds to a second political or government entity.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein the first political or government entitycorresponds to a first political party, a first political or governmentorganization, or a first political or government figure, and wherein thesecond political or government entity corresponds to a second politicalparty, a second political or government organization, or a secondpolitical or government figure.
 17. The method of claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: identifying, by the search system, a source setassociated with a user, wherein the source set includes at least onesource associated with the user; determining, by the search system, thatthe at least one source is not included in the suggested group ofsources; and causing, by the search system, at least one source set tobe included with the suggested group of sources.